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PM writes to ministers, lays down ground rules
Firebrand Sushma lifts BJP’s sagging spirit in LS
RS gets taste of Dravidian politics
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Vijayan case: CPM dubs move as ‘political conspiracy’
Tackling Swine Flu
GE Vahanvati is Attorney-General
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PM writes to ministers, lays down ground rules
New Delhi, June 8 Reminding the ministers about the UPA government’s focus on inclusive growth with special programmes for the weaker sections, minorities and other disadvantaged groups, the PM underlined that “equity, innovation and public accountability must be the watchword of our government.” This is the first time that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written such a letter to his Cabinet colleagues and is generally being viewed as a gentle reminder to the ministers that there is no time to waste and they must “work and perform.” Last week when a similar advisory was sent to the finance ministry, it had created ripples in the government and Congress circles especially since it was placed in the public domain. It was felt that such an action was unnecessary and was meant to be a subtle message to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee that it is the Prime Minsiter who runs the show. Today’s follow-up letter to all Cabinet ministers is meant to quell such speculation and to send out the message that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s primary concern is the speedy and effective implementation of the government’s pro-poor agenda. “It is essentially advice from an experienced leader...it is meant to tell us that we have to get going,” said a senior Cabinet minister. While reminding the ministers about the government’s inclusive agenda, the letter has also asked them to ensure that the flagship programmes are implemented according to the time frame mentioned in the president’s address and that the leakages in the schemes are plugged to make them more effective. With the UPA now in a commanding position, the Prime Minister is clearly in a conciliatory mood as far as the Opposition is concerned. He has, therefore, asked his ministers to respect the views of the Opposition and adopt a bipartisan approach to development, adding that the concerns of all state chief ministers must also be addressed at the earliest. “Respect for dissent is the essence of democratic functioning,” the letter said, adding, “We should give due consideration to the view of the Opposition and seek to work together for our collective well-being.” Given the past experience of ministerial functioning, the Prime Minister has reminded the Cabinet ministers that they be more generous with their junior ministers and give them adequate work responsibilities. This, he said, is necessary to groom new leadership and also make the Ministers of State stakeholders in the India story. Other do’s and don’ts in the letter are that ministers respect the functional autonomy of public sector undertakings and should not be given to unnecessary interference, should not go public with matters where more than one ministry is involved, devote adequate time to parliamentary work and respond to letters of all MPs.
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Firebrand Sushma lifts BJP’s sagging spirit in LS
New Delhi, June 8 Lifting the sagging spirits of the opposition (her speech brought tears to LK Advani’s eyes), Sushma took on the government point by point on the Presidential address and redeemed her party’s reputation in the House, showing to her detractors within the party who Advani’s heir-apparent was. She began by slamming Congress’ Girija Vyas who had opened the debate by signalling “BJP’s decimation” in recent elections. “You are a litterateur Girija but politics is not literature where every novel must have its end. Here, no one is ever decimated. You, too, were not, as you lost some elections and won some,” said Sushma, bringing down the Congress-led hype around Rahul Gandhi’s youth brigade by recalling the freedom struggle when Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev kissed the gallows and the post-Emergency era when several young leaders like JD-U’s Sharad Yadav got elected to the lower house as 25-year-olds. Citing history, Sushma showed that the youth had proved themselves every time the situation had demanded. “The rise of the young is nothing new in India,” she said, countering UPA’s claims that the mandate was one for policies and secularism. “Twenty-one of your policy-making ministers never fought elections; 16 lost. This is a mandate not for policy but circumstances. As regards secularism, all its so-called custodians -- the CPM, RJD, SP and LJP - have come crashing down. We still stand tall at 116 seats,” thundered the BJP MP. The BJP leader charged the UPA with mortgaging India’s nuclear sovereignty and failing to counter Pakistan’s growing nuclear arsenal. “As a health minister then, I chose to set up AIIMS in states that lacked in healthcare; of the six states I chose, four were Congress-led,” Sushma reminded the UPA, which recently discriminated against BJP-ruled states like Chattisgarh by cutting the latter’s rice quota, knowing well that the state was providing rice at Rs 3 per 35 kg to all BPL families. “And you say Congress can’t let anyone sleep hungry,” Sushma turned to Girija, making her last piercing comment, this time on women’s reservation bill, for which she quoted the President’s speech which only assured steps to pass the bill in 100 days and not actually the bill’s passage. “Aur aap yun hi zeher khane ki baat kehte hai,” Sushma said to Sharad Yadav. It was a speech that revived the era of quality debates in Lok Sabha, and set new standards for the future.
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RS gets taste of Dravidian politics
New Delhi, June 8 Participating in the resumed discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, AIADMK member Maitreyan said the Prime Minister was initially opposed to the induction of certain members from the DMK in his government because they were tainted but later succumbed to pressure and included them. The PM was also present in the House. Without naming anyone but hinting toward IT and Communications Minister A Raja, Maitreyan said unlike in 2004 when the PM’s hands were tied, since the Congress had a clear mandate, this time Singh had enough power to let his will prevail. “Wahi hota hai jo manzoore khuda hota hai ... And khuda is sitting in Chennai,” Maitereyan said, in an obvious reference to the Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi, whose DMK is a key ally of the UPA. Also referring to the Congress manifesto promising that fruit of party’s labour will go to the masses, Maitreyan said. “The fruit is going to Gopalapuram,” referring to the place where Karunanidhi resides. While the PM continued to remain a picture of calm during the entire episode, some infuriated members from the DMK and the Congress-D Siva and Jayanthi Natarajan-raised objections to Maitereyan’s remarks. It was AIADMK leader reference to Gopalapuram that had Siva rushing to the aisle in protest. Natarajan termed it as a cheap and malicious charge. As both wanted the remarks to be expunged, AIADMK members were on their feet and countered them. Raja, along with senior DMK leader and former Surface Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister T R Baalu were the major bone of contention between the Congress and the DMK and sources say the grand old party was keen to keep the duo out of the Cabinet. While Baalu failed to find a berth, Raja made it to the Cabinet this time as well.
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Sena-BJP want Patil to step down
Mumbai, June 8 The two opposition parties, who received a major setback when the Lok Sabha election results came out last month, are planning to make the maximum out of Patil’s arrest since Maharashtra is to go to the polls later this year. “Pawar has to take action against Patil since the CBI has filed a case only after a through inquiry,” BJP leader from Maharashtra Gopinath Munde said in a statement released here. The Shiv Sena has taken the matter one step further and accused Pawar and his ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet of hampering police investigations against Patil. The Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP and editor of Saamna Sanjay Raut said Maharashtra Home Minister Jayant Patil and his predecessor R R Patil should resign from the assembly since they put pressure on the police to go slow in the Patil case. The two parties are now going hammer and tongs at Pawar for being non-committal about sacking Patil. The Shiv Sena said it would launch an agitation in Maharashtra over the issue of criminalisation of politics. The party has said it would be launching a people’s movement to expose the NCP. The movement is expected to coincide with a statewide agitation threatened by social activist Anna Hazare from Thursday. The two parties expect to wrest the Osmanabad seat won by Padamsinh Patil in last month’s Lok Sabha polls by a thin margin of around 6,000 votes in case the MP is forced to resign.
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Vijayan case: CPM dubs move as ‘political conspiracy’
New Delhi, June 8 Politburo member Brinda Karat today said the permission for prosecution was a “conspiracy” against the party that would defend Vijayan on all possible levels. Vijayan, secretary of Kerala State Committee of the CPM, has been in the dock for his involvement in the SNC-Lavlin corruption case, where he allegedly gave objectionable contracts. Though the CPM Politburo today called the Governor’s decision against Vijayan as “unfortunate”, the party is expected to debate the matter at length in the upcoming Politburo meeting on June 18. Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan had long fallen out with Vijayan on the said corruption case and had raised the pitch against him in the recent Politburo meetings. Achuthanandan is said to have revived his demand to strip Vikayan of all elected posts when the CPM Politburo met recently to analyse poll defeats, including Kerala where Achuthanandan shifted the blame of electoral losses on Vijayan’s image. One view within the CPM is that the party might allow Vijayan an honourable exit. But that would be clear only after the CPM top leadership meets in New Delhi shortly.
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Sheetal Mafatlal sent to judicial custody
Mumbai, June 8 Satish Maneshinde, lawyer for Sheetal and her husband Atulya, told reporters outside the court that he would be applying for bail tomorrow. He said Sheetal was carrying 51 items of jewellery like bangles, chains and rings and all of them were used jewellery which she had taken abroad for personal use. “These were given to her by her father-in-law,” Maneshinde said. He further added that the charges under which Sheetal was arrested were bailable under under a Supreme Court ruling since the value of the gold was less than Rs one crore and the duty on it below Rs 30 lakh. Maneshinde further alleged that Sheetal was arrested at the behest of her husband's rival. Meanwhile media reports quoting unnamed customs officials stated that the authorities were tipped off by relatives of the Mafatlals. Atulya Mafatlal has been locked in a long dispute with his mother Madhuri and other relatives over the estate of his late father, industrialist Yogendra Mafatlal. The late Mafatlal’s estate and assets included jewellery valued at more than Rs 10 crore in 2006 when the issue first hit the headlines. Also party to the dispute is Atulya’s sister Aparna who underwent a sex change operation is now called Ajay. The Mafatlals continue to reside in a huge building in South Mumbai even while the case is progressing in the courts.
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Tackling Swine Flu
Hyderabad, June 8 With Hyderabad emerging as focal point of the swine flu infection, accounting for seven out of the 11 confirmed cases of the influenza A H1N1 in the country, a decision has been taken to set up a liaison centre of the National Institute of the Communicable Diseases (NICD) here. The decision came after a four-member rapid response team of the NICD visited the city to take stock of the situation and coordinate with the state officials on measures to be taken to arrest spread
of the virus. “This will help reduce the time being taken for examining throat swabs of suspected patients,” Dr K Subhakar, coordinator of the Swine Flu Nodal Centre, said. The Tribune had some questions for Dr Subhakar What are the bottlenecks in way of an effective handling of the situation? Dr Subhakar: There are certain issues being taken up with the Centre. We want samples being sent to NICD, New Delhi, to be tested faster. At present, it takes 18-36 hours before the results are out. Another issue is the hefty sum being charged by the airlines to transport the samples. We want the Civil Aviation Ministry to direct airlines to waive the fee. What precautionary measures are being taken to prevent spread of the virus? Apart from screening in-bound passengers, we are examining whether the government can issue travel advisories to people coming from swine flu affected countries asking them to undergo tests before coming to India. Other steps being taken include screening of passengers at 18 international airports in India. How many people have been screened so far? In Hyderabad alone we have screened nearly one lakh passengers. We are also asking them to provide their contact details so that the Health Department can get in touch in case of any eventuality. There is panic in the public over growing number of cases. Is the worst yet to come? No. There is no need for panic. We are taking all possible precautionary measures and are fully geared up to meet any kind of situation. The main problem was with the British Airways flight that landed here on May 31. A 28-year-old software professional from Philadelphia was tested positive for the virus. He transmitted the virus to his younger brother. A 31-year-old woman and her daughter, who were travelling by same flight, were also infected. As a precautionary measure, the Health Department is tracking down all the passengers of that flight. So far, 35 samples have been sent from Hyderabad out of which seven tested positive. Are we sufficiently equipped to deal with the situation in terms of infrastructure and facilities? There is only one facility (Government Chest Hospital) here. The opening of NICD centre will help speed up testing procedures.
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GE Vahanvati is Attorney-General
New Delhi, June 8 The appointment, made by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, is for a period of three years, an official release said. Vahanvati succeeds Milon K Banerjee, who resigned with other law officers following the formation of a new government at the Centre in the wake of the 15th Lok Sabha election. The new AG handled important cases concerning the Centre when he was SG during the earlier tenure of the Manmohan Singh government. Besides Banerjee and Vahanvati, the others who had resigned were Additional Solicitors-General Gopal Subramaniam and Mohan Parasaran. The government is expected to appoint the new SG and ASGs soon. Interestingly, the Supreme Court’s vacation Bench, comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam, was not aware of Vahanvati’s appointment. The judges kept addressing Vahanvati as Mr Solicitor when he appeared in a case. |
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60 two-wheelers set ablaze Threat call to Kerala Gov Man stabs kids Police station bombed
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